Review - 2009 Goal 2

My second goal last year (2009) was to run a half marathon in under 2 hours. Goal was NOT ACHIEVED but I was still successful.

Running a half marathon in 2009 was going to be my fourth. When I set the goal I knew it was aggressive since my personal best time was time in the previous 3 half marathons was 2:05:43 and I’m not getting any younger. My running partner, Melodie, agreed to the goal and we started training in January. At the time it didn’t sound all that hard to knock 5 minutes out of a two hour time period.

Fast forward to May when we ran the Cellcom Marathon in Green Bay. To achieve the time of 2 hours flat on the half marathon (13.1 miles) we needed to average 9 minute miles for each of the 13 miles. We started the run on a sunny morning with a temperature of 37 degrees – about perfect for our run. At the one mile mark we were at 8:37 – much faster than we needed so we slowed down. At mile two our time was 17:40 or 8:50 per mile. At this point I said to myself and then to Melodie, “This is the perfect pace – we are right on target.” At mile four we were still on pace for 9:00 minutes per mile and I felt pretty good.

We crossed the 7 mile mark at exactly 54 minutes or 9 minute miles. It was shortly after mile 7 when the race fell apart for me. I remember it well. We were on a slight uphill just after crossing Lombardi Avenue in a neighborhood where an old boyfriend of my daughter’s lived. It was just a slight uphill but it took everything I had to make it to the top and that is when I was pretty sure we were falling off pace. I thought to myself – that’s what a running partner is for – Melodie will have to keep pace and I’ll just stay with her. At mile 8 we had fallen way off pace and I told Melodie to not worry about me, to pick up the pace so she could hit the goal. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any get up and go left either. After the race she related to me that she ran out of gas – “shortly after the slight hill right by the porta-a-porties” or essentially the same place as me. So neither one of us could “pull” the other one along.

We kept running and at each mile marker we were falling further and further off our hoped for 9:00 minute per mile pace and then the goal became to finish the race. Running is as much a mental exercise as a physical one and the realization that we weren’t going to achieve our goal weight heavily on me. However, I’ve never quit a race and this one was no exception. We kept at it and much to my surprise and delight we crossed the finish line at 2:04:59 beating my previous personal best time by almost a full minute. In retrospect, I’m very proud of that time and I still have hopes of improving on it. However, my goal for 2010 is to complete my first full marathon (26.2) miles.

My training for the run began on Jan 4 2009 and will be tested at the Cellcom Marathon on May 2010.
Here is another person's 2009 Cellcom story.

Review - 2009 Goal 1

My first goal last year (2009) was to read four non-fiction books.  It was ACHIEVED.

I read plenty of fiction books but it is just harder for me to want to sit down and read a non-fiction book.  

In February I read “My Life on the Run” by Bart Yasso.  Bart was the guest speaker at the Cellcom Marathon kickoff party in January so I decided to read his book about running.  If you are a runner I think you will like the book.  I also learned how to request a book at the library.  No not how to find it on the book shelf rather how to submit a request for the library to purchase a book so it can be loaned out.  Bart’s book had just recently been released and the library didn’t have a copy.  I didn’t think I wanted the book for my library and, being cheap, I wasn’t going to buy it.  The process to request a book from the Brown County library is real easy and, in this case, worked quickly.

In April I read “Lost!” by Thomas Thompson.  I found this book in a old Readers Digest condensed book we had around the house.  It didn’t have much of an impression on me as I don’t remember anything about the story and I’ve given the Readers Digest to Goodwill.

After taking the summer off from reading non-fiction I completed “The Intelligent Asset Allocation” by William Bernstein in September.  An excellent, excellent primer on how and why to do asset allocation as an investment strategy.  William Bernstein is an excellent author and this book as well as some of his others is currently guiding my personal and professional investing portfolio.

Finally, in November I completed reading “48 Days to the Work You Love” by Dan Miller.  An well written book to provides practical guidance on conducting  a job search.  I liked the book so much that I’ve purchased additional copies and have started giving them to people that have lost their jobs to help them get back in the game.  I would also recommend someone reading this that wanted to find a different job.  Great advice on networking.

2009 Goals

Here are my New Years Resolutions or, more aptly said, my goals for the year.

1. Read 4 non fiction books - I read a lot of fiction and want to challenge myself to broaden my reading

2. Run a half marathon in under 2 hours - My best time is 2 hours and 5 minutes. I think this is doable

3. Do a triathlon - I've threatened for years to do one. Now I have to!

4. Take 2 major backpacking trips - I love backpacking so this one will be no problem

5. Improve my photo taking skills - My wife has an awesome SLR camera and I want to get better

6. Improve my web site abilities - My website is pretty lame right now. Not sure how I'm going to improve my abilities.

7. Build CDF Financial revenues - I kind of have to do this to do the other things I want to do.

8. Ride my bike more than 300 miles.

2008 New Years Resolutions/Goals

A lot of people think that New Years Resolutions are lame and studies show that most people don't keep them. I think of them as goals, write them down, set measurable standards, and then review them at the end of each year. I've found over the years that I accomplish about 75% of the goals and some of the goals have become habits. Here are my 2008 goals and the results.

1. Read "Intelligent Asset Allocation". I'm about 100 pages into the book so I didn't complete the goal but having it on my goal list got me to reading it.

2. Find a way to help others with financial planning. I started a financial planning company, started the Certified Financial Planning certificate program, and began working working with 8 different people.

3. Exercise at least 20 minutes 3-4 times per week. Last year I exercised 245 days. This year it was 255 days and I've changed my lifestyle such that I don't need to have this goal to motivate me. This has been a goal of mine since 2001 and I've attained it for the last 3 years.

4. Lose weight to 160 pounds. I got down there for 3 months but I'm back up to 167 . I've been unsuccessful at this goal for seven years. Bummer.

5. Ride bike outside more than 300 miles. I only rode 225 miles. Oh well.

6. Run a half marathon. This one took some work. I trained for a half marathon that was in May and two weeks before the race I was diagnosed with a stress fracture in each leg which kept me from running the race. After not running for 7 weeks I started training for the Fox Cities Half Marathon in September. I completed the race in 2 hours 5 minutes.

7. Take two major backpacking trips. Hiked in Death Valley in March and the Northern Cascades in September.

8. Read 24 books (4 non-fiction). Read 36 books but only 3 non-fiction.

9. Vacation in Hawaii. Yeah-two weeks in July with my wife and Ed and Sue Tucker.



Beautiful sunset in Hawaii taken by Lori Fisher